Podcasts, Media, Something to be Desired...

I've finally finished watching the entire four seasons of Something to be Desired. It was fantastic! I can't wait for Season 5! It's a great example of how a passion for creativity and a determination to produce a fantastic show is worth starting. Hopefully the series will continue to grow, and it has been developing a larger and larger fanbase.

It's also convinced me that Project TWC has a LOT of potential to succeed. :) It won't likely generate huge amounts of cash, but it will be a creative success - and with the ever growing crew of people keen to help out, it is looking more and more exciting as the project is already moving well out of the field of my initial idea. Which is good news. :)

As I continue my embracing of all things groovy and networthy - I have discovered, quite by accident, that my computer already has a podcasting editing suite built in. :) So I'm thinking that I might do a podcast in my spare time. If an idea strikes me. :D

Maybe my own version of RPG reviewing? Or a blogcast? The options are pretty much endless.

Ahhh, the wonders of modern media and the ever growing world of internet entertainment. :)

Who knows? Maybe you'll be hearing my new show on your computer in the near future.

In fact, I'm suddenly getting a great epiphany! With my software I can mix using skype - we could do a Gametime podcast to go with the website! OOOH! OOH! OOOH! Morgue! Luke! Steve! Think about it! Being able to do a show over the net!

Crazy mad ideas are whirling around my head! :D I'll wait until I've slept on it - see how it goes!

Love and Huggles

Conan

Currently Reading: Fragile Things - Neil Gaiman
Currently Playing: Scion: Hero
Mood: Crazy happy thoughts!

Insomnia

I can't sleep tonight.

Just a little stressed out about the business and my future plans. It's hard to be rational at 12am in the morning.

See, this is the quiet period of the year, and ESG is not generating the kind of income it should be. Part of that is that I can't get stock as quickly as I'd like - being a small business. Part of that is to do with stocking up on roleplaying games that I'd researched as being a good investment only to get burnt by a local boom in indie games that I couldn't stock at a reasonable price.

*sigh*

It gets a bit stressful when I know that if I had a brick and mortar store, this stock I'm sitting on would be moving. I didn't even want to be sitting on stock, but there you go.

It's not that I'm closing the business down, but I'm not happy with how slowly things are going. It simply is not making enough sales to really justify any more work into the business. Short of a boom in sales - there is little point. I have only a few loyal customers, most people use me as some sort of last resort.

The thing is, I have to work fulltime, come home and try to figure out sales, worry about accounts and then somehow fit a social life and other projects around it all. I'm feeling worn down at the moment and getting that "too much for one man to bear" feeling.

I can't afford to advertise. The business simply doesn't make enough money. I'm not sure how to make the site do anything else - blogging didn't work, nobody uses the forums (NZRAG is already there, so why use two forums...) and if I didn't have business bills to pay, I'd probably send the stock back (except I wouldn't get nearly enough money from that either.)

I feel trapped.

It's a lesson learned, but I can't just give up half-way through, I have to work things through to a point that I can leave it. Growing the business has proven to be too much work for too little return. I would put my prices up to meet Retailers, but that gets rid of my only real drawing point.

And I still get people who try to convince me to give them a discount!

I know that this is a time where things are quiet - but tonight, I just can't sleep and I keep worrying. I'm hoping this new project that I'm working on will help generate for me enough to be able to sort out ESG. But that is very long term thinking. It's not helping me sleep tonight.

I'm not saying ESG is doing badly - far from it - but it isn't performing to the level that it needs to justify a long-term operation. It's a combination of an unresponsive market, too many other businesses nibbling away at potential sales, some bad decisions of my own stock and operations wise and the inability to get stock in sooner than brick and mortar operations that can afford to order direct from overseas.

On a good month, ESG does well enough to stay balanced. But it needs more sales - and nothing is working at the moment.

Wish I could get some sleep...

BTW, this is not a cry for help, it's just I can't sleep and I need to get it out.

Love and Huggles

Conan

Currently Reading: Nothing
Currently Playing: Exalted: Nexus of the Sun
Mood: Tired and can't sleep...

Sinfest - One of my Favourite Webcomics.

While I continue to work on the treatments for my webproject, I was wandering around looking at various webTV sites when I realised it had been ages since I had caught up with one of my most favourite WebComics of all time - Sinfest.

Although Sinfest does tend to be a bit hit and miss as a series, it still has some of the coolest jokes about human nature I have seen. Despite their flaws, all the characters are remarkably likeable - even the Devil. Of course God is such a trickster in the series too...

How can you not love a series that is so irreverent and yet clever at the same time. :) Of course there is a subtle favouritism towards eastern religion... The Dragon and Buddha characters always seem to be more in control of things than anyone else - God spends most of his time mocking the devil, while the devil spends most of his time trying to corrupt everything in sight.

Another favourite strip:

While it might seem that Sinfest only mocks christianity - it actually does an equally good job at mocking... well... everyone.



Of course not all of Sinfest is politically incorrect... which I think is the biggest appeal of the series. Everyone has a good and bad side. God is a bit of a wanker at times, but he IS the omnipotent force for Good still. Slick is a wannabe pimp, but he really just wants 'nique's love... just he ends up begging for boootahy.

Finally there are some characters who are just plain loveable no matter what...

So check it out now. Sinfest the webcomic. Now!


Love and Huggles

Conan

Currently Reading: Scion: Hero
Currently Playing: Scion: Hero
Mood: Having a really good day!

WebTV - Better than Broadcast!

In my travels investigating WebTV in preparation for my own project, I 've come across some really brilliant material!

There is a large and continually growing community of WebTV shows that are literally paving the way for the generation in television. They cover all manner of genres and styles, and are a mix of amateur to professional in quality.

Currently my two favourites are both comedies.

Something To Be Desired is a show about a group of friends and work colleagues connected to a non-profit radio station in Pittsburgh - WANT FM. It has a great mix of ad-libbing and scripting to produce and amusing show that is also touching. I love the characters and how they interact.

The humour is subtle, with very real situations involving very real people.

On the converse side, there is Goodnight Burbank which looks at what goes on in a newsroom while the articles play. It is fricking hilarious! Although I personally love the spin-off series Goodnight Burbank Breaking News with Autumn Stanton - which involves on location reporter Autumn and her constant frustration with her NBC newsreporter roommate (who is a complete airhead.)

Check out these sites and treat yourself to some very talented shows. This is the kind of thing I'm hoping to produce with Project TWC. Fingers crossed. :D

Love and Huggles

Conan

Currently Reading: Star Wars Saga Edition
Currently Playing: Exalted: Nexus of the Sun
Mood: Loving it better than a McD's ad!

Reviewtime: Shadow of the Colossus/Ico

Being on holiday is a marvelous thing - you get to catch up on all the things you don't normally get to do. For me the first two days have been filled with completing two excellent games. Shadow of the Colossus and Ico.

Colossal Design

Although produced after Ico, Shadow of the Colossus is actually a prequel. It tells the story of a young man, Wander, who travels to a distant and forbidden land where only the ruins of ancient cities lie. At the centre of this land is a palatial temple where an ancient long-forgotten god resides.

Wander brings with him the body of a woman sacrificed due to her cursed fate, but who he loves so deeply as to travel to this forbidden place to beg a lost god to resurrect her - for the Dormin, the dual-god of this land, is said to have control over the souls of the dead. The Dormin agree but only on one condition. That Wander completes a ritual of great detail - he must travel the forbidden land and kill the great beasts that are all that remain of a past time.

Shadow of the Colossus is unlike any other action game out there. You can't just ride up and stab the enemy to death or unlock some super combo of doom. Each beast is a puzzle that must be solved. The only way to kill them is to strike true at their weak points. However to reach these points one must be creative and look for clues as to how to reach them.

There are sixteen Colossi in the game, and no two are defeated the same way. They range from the insanely huge to just large. Two of my favourites are the flying Colossi - the experience of having to get onto their backs and then desperately seek out their weak points before you lose your grip is an amazing piece of gameplay design.

In fact, the entire game is an amazing piece of design. Aesthetically, gameplay and story. Streaming off the disc, you rarely experience loading screens during play - which means you get to travel vast distances in your quest to find and destroy these beasts. None of the puzzles are easy, but they aren't too hard either. Most solutions are fairly clear after a bit of experimenting, and the game barrels along at a nice pace, while keeping things poignant.

The use of music is amazing, with stirring music that plays when battling some Colossi - swelling to triumphant when you manage to get the advantage. In some battles you find yourself running through the gutted ruins of ancient cities, chased by a Colossus, all the while surrounded by haunting yet tense music.

The Colossi themselves are also amazing to look at - marvelous creations of the imagination, they all exude personality and the AI is pretty impressive.

No doubt you can tell I loved this game - it was amazing to play and a great twist on the traditional action game.

Ico: The Sequel that came First

Which leads me to Ico. Originally made three years prior to Shadow of the Colossus, Ico is another puzzle game, with more focus on the puzzle element. It tells the story of a young boy, Ico, who is born with horns on his head. This is seen in his village as a sign of a curse, and when he reaches the age of 10, he is taken away to a strange castle. There he is sealed into a tomb and left. A freak earthquake frees him. Alone in this unusual castle he finds a girl who is elfin and almost ghost like. The only other person in the entire castle he tries to convince her to escape with him - only Yorda speaks some strange language and is being hunted by shadowy beings that hide within the depths of the castle.

As Ico, you have to help Yorda escape - in the process also learning who is behind the castle's shadowy denizens.

There were times where the puzzles in Ico were frustrating. Most are easy to solve, but difficult to complete. The waterwheel puzzle being the most infuriating example.

Still, it is a gorgeous game, and has the same haunting aspects of Shadow of the Colossus. Once you play them, it is clear to see that they are designed with the same aesthetics. It is interesting to note the differing tones of the two games - Shadow is very sorrowful, with sad music that gives the entire game a melancholic air of tragedy. Ico, on the other hand, is haunting and wistful - the music is less sad, yet still haunting.

Both games have fantastic final battles that leave you feeling somewhat fulfilled for having slogged your way through six hours or so of game.

Highly recommended. Two thumbs up!

Love and Huggles

Conan

Currently Reading: Promethean: The Created
Currently Playing: Exalted: Nexus of the Sun
Mood: Pleased to have finished two great games!

Onwards and Upwards

I'm sure that's a Narnia reference...

Anyway, we didn't make the finals this year for 48hours, but that's cool. :) Just a challenge to face for next year. I've spent most of the weekend working on ProjectTWC, and it is getting more and more exciting!

We did a little demo chase sequence on Sunday with the help of Gino and Fraser, I edited it Sunday night and it came out quite well. I'm very pleased with the quality of the camera image once I hooked up the tape and played the finished project for everyone yesterday - so things are looking promising for the future project!

Now it is a matter of writing the first script, which is going to be an interesting challenge. I'm hoping that this week is a week of story ideas being thrown around and the initial stirrings of scripthood.

I am kind of setting a tight schedule for the show to develop - but that is mostly due to my eagerness to see it take off. Following the videotape segment, the possibility of selling DVDs to the series is growing too - something to investigate. :D

A lot in the works! Woop! Woop! Woop! :D

Love and Huggles

Conan

Currently Reading: The Wyld
Currently Playing: Exalted: Nexus of the Sun, WFRPG
Mood: Pleased as Punch

Planning and Plotting

Tomorrow is going to see the first preliminary shots for Project TWC. The point of tomorrow is going to be practicing techniques and seeing what we can aim for with the initial five episodes of the series.

In that vein we don't have any plan as such, the idea being to sort of create an improvised narrative using video. Because it is digital, this isn't going to be as big a deal as it may sound. Normally you need to be well organised by the time you start filiming, but the goal here is to practice using the resources that the initial project is likely to be using.

I'm pretty excited, actually. :D

More later...

Love and Huggles

Conan

Currently Reading: Practical DV Filmmaking
Currently Playing: Exalted: Nexus of the Sun
Mood: Having a great day!